Lena Steinmann

I would like to thank GLOMAR for the financial support which allowed me to participate in the “International Workshop and Course on Collapse Calderas” held from the 5th to 11 th of December 2014 in Taupo, New Zealand. This event was organized by the IAVCEI Commission on Collapse Calderas (CCC), which fosters common interests in research on collapse calderas, thereby covering a wide spectrum of research topics such as geology, geophysics, numerical/analogue modelling, magma chamber processes, hazard assessment and risk management as well as economic and environmental aspects (https://staff.aist.go.jp/geshi-nob/CCC/).
 
The meeting was held in a hotel right at the shore of Lake Taupo, at the southern end of the central Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), the most frequently active and productive Quaternary silicic system on Earth. Central TVZ is characterized by intense rhyolitic volcanism associated with 8 calderas and caldera complexes, which can therefore be regarded as an excellent place to study caldera structures and volcanism.
 
The 3rd International Course on Collapse Calderas (December 5-7, 2014) gave an introduction to the four main themes of the following 5th International Workshop on Collapse Calderas (December 7-11, 2014) namely (1) physical setting and volcanology of calderas; (2) magma processes; (3) caldera resources; (4) caldera unrest. I presented my poster with the title “Reconstruction of volcanotectonic processes in the offshore sector of the Campi Flegrei caldera” as part of theme (1) physical setting and volcanology of calderas. The workshop consisted of 35 oral and 14 poster contributions, fruitful discussions, and field trips to different volcanic outcrops.

Overall, I greatly benefited from the participation in this meeting in both personal and scientific respect. The course provided general as well as more specific information on the latest state of caldera research and gave a great introduction into the impressive history of New Zealand’s volcanology. The workshop on the other hand offered an excellent opportunity to present my current work to and discuss it with an audience of leading scientists in my research field. I received a lot of helpful feedback and supporting comments which added extra confidence to my results and motivated me to write up my first paper. Furthermore, I got to know some of the most renowned international scientists in my field and learned about the current hot topics in collapse caldera research. Subsequent to the meeting I became a IAVCEI member in order to stay up to date on the latest development in collapse calderas research.